---
title: "This Horrific “Yarn” Is Made From Human Flesh"
description: "A team of French researchers have grown yarn from human skin cells that could be used by surgeons as simple sutures or assembled into skin grafts."
date: "2020-02-04"
modified: "2020-02-04"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/horrific-yarn-human-skin"
categories:
  - "Developments"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "artificial skin"
  - "skin"
  - "skin grafts"
---

# This Horrific “Yarn” Is Made From Human Flesh

![A team of French researchers have grown yarn from human skin cells that could be used by surgeons as simple sutures or assembled into skin grafts.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/horrific-yarn-human-flesh.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Elsevier \</em\>*

A team of researchers at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Bordeaux have grown yarn from human skin cells that they call a "human textile" — and they say it could be used by surgeons to close wounds or assemble implantable skin grafts.

"These human textiles offer a unique level of biocompatibility and represent a new generation of completely biological tissue-engineered products," the researchers wrote in [a paper](<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742706120300520?via%3Dihub>) published in the journal *Acta Biomateriala.*

The key advantage of the gruesome yarn is that unlike conventional synthetic surgical materials, the material doesn't trigger an immune response that can complicate the healing process, [according to *New Scientist*](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2232357-yarn-grown-from-human-skin-cells-could-be-knitted-into-your-body/>).

To create it, according to the magazine*,* the researchers cut sheets of human skin cells into long strips — and then "wove" them into a yarn-like material that can be fabricated into a variety of shapes.

"We can sew pouches, create tubes, valves and perforated membranes," lead researcher Nicholas L'Heureux told *New Scientist*. "With the yarn, any textile approach is feasible: knitting, braiding, weaving, even crocheting."

So far, the researchers have used the special yarn to stitch a rat's wounds and help it fully heal over two weeks. They even created a skin graft, using a custom-made loom, to seal a sheep's artery and stop it from leaking.

The work builds on [prior research](<https://www.nature.com/articles/nm1364>) by the same team in which they produced sheets of biomaterial and rolled them into artificial blood vessels.

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)